Repost from Center for Biological Diversity

EPA: Keystone XL Means “Significant Increase” in Climate Pollution

Here’s a no-brainer: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this week that the development of tar sands oil that would be carried by the Keystone XL pipeline “represents a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions” — the pollution equivalent of fumes spewing from 5.7 million passenger vehicles over the next 50 years.

Extraction and refinement of tar sands oil produces twice as much greenhouse gas per barrel as conventional oil. In June 2013 President Obama warned of the dangers of climate change and said Keystone would only be in the national interest if it “does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”

“The ball’s in President Obama’s court,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity. “He said he wouldn’t approve this disastrous pipeline if it significantly exacerbates the problem of carbon pollution. It’s time for him to keep his word.”